No doubt if you’re planning a trip to Portugal, you’ll have stumbled across Sintra. That famed yellow and red castle that adorns every second guide book? Yep, that’s in Sintra. It’s otherwise known as the Palacio Nacional De Pena. Or for those less adept at Portuguese, the Pena Palace. With numerous gardens, castles and a lovely historic town centre, Sintra is a wonderful place to spend a day (or more) to explore. Here’s our guide to spending an enjoyable one day in Sintra. An absolute must visit UNESCO protected world heritage area.
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Getting to Sintra
Sintra has a reasonable amount of accommodation, but for the most part, we’ll assume you’ve come from Lisbon (as we did).
Public transport in Portugal is excellent. It’s made even better by the reasonable prices to get around. If you don’t already have one, you’ll need to buy a Viva Viagem card, a reloadable transport card. Cost of the card on first purchase is €0.50 and you can choose from a few ticket options.
- You can pay per trip.
- You can pay per trip from credit. Called the ‘Zapping’ option – similar to most tap and go transport cards, comes with a ~11% discount.
- Buy an unlimited daily ticket. Unlimited travel includes the metro, CP train (regional Lisbon trains including to Caiscais and Sintra), trams and buses.
Our recommendation for this day trip is to use the unlimited daily ticket. From Lisbon, you can jump on the CP train at Estacao do Rossio, the main station. Your journey to Sintra will take ~1 hour.
We were staying slightly outside of the main centre, and connected with the same train via a metro connection. Even with the additional transit, the total return cost was €6.40 per person (correct as at April 2019).
Not comfortable doing it yourself? A day trip to Sintra is easily organised via our friends at Get Your Guide. There are some excellent options if you’d prefer to visit with some assistance.
How to get around during your one day in Sintra
Whilst Sintra can’t be described as mountainous, simply being called ‘hilly’ is underselling it. Sintra has some steep descents and ascents (ask our calves after completing 25,000 steps). There are many very helpful options to get around.
Bus
A local bus route serves a loop around the main sites for €15 per person. The buses come with reasonable frequency, but was our least preferred option.
Uber
We checked Uber’s availability on arrival and noticed it was €7 for us to get to our first stop at the Pena Palace. This was incredibly reasonable, so we took that option up the narrow, windy roads.
Tuk-tuk
We last visited Portugal a decade ago, and neither of us can remember tuk-tuks being a thing. But like in South East Asia, these are an economical means of getting about. And they’re everywhere nowadays. We opted for a tuk-tuk to take us from the Moorish castle to the historic centre at €5 per person. In larger tuk-tuks, you may share your vehicle with other passengers.
Walking
Some parts of Sintra are made for walking. But if you’re not a cross-country athlete, exploring all of Sintra on foot can be ambitious. Save your legs for inside the various castles and gardens.
Our total transport costs for our day trip to Sintra totalled €17. Aside from walking, probably the most economical means of getting about too.
Pena Palace
Starting your day early in Sintra, we suggest heading directly to the impressive Pena Palace. Perched high on top of a cliff and surrounded by the lush greenery of the gardens around it, this is the absolute must do in Sintra. Grab an uber or a tuk-tuk and power up the steep and windy roads.
The castle’s history started in the 12th century when a chapel was dedicated to Our Lady of Pena. A monastery was subsequently built in the 16th century. The property remained a small monastery, austerely located high above Sintra. The 18th century saw the combination of a lightning strike and subsequent Great Lisbon Earthquake wreak havoc and reduce the monastery to ruins.
It was not until the 19th century that Ferdinand II acquired the property. He transformed the remains of the monastery into a summer residence for the Portuguese royal family. It is this famed yellow monastery and red clock tower that we see left today as one of Portugal’s Seven Wonders.
Pastel colours of earth red and mustard yellow may not work aesthetically in most cases. But against a stunning blue sky, you can be sure to have the image well imprinted in your memory for years to come. A walk around the walls is a must to take in the Palace from every angle.
You’ll need to earn your up close views of the palace as it requires a good ascent uphill through the lush gardens surrounding. Our advice would be to not rush to the top. Stop and figuratively smell the roses and other sweet fragrances that adorn the walk up.
A word of warning that this is an incredibly popular (if not the most popular) site in Portugal. You’ll have lots of other folks visiting with you, and the palace itself is not overly large. Hence our recommendation to visit early. You can find yourself a quiet moment to contemplate in the gardens in peace, but you’ll find yourself hard pressed on the narrow walkways of the wall. So in short, watch out for those selfie sticks.
Jump the queue – BOOK ONLINE: Pena Palace skip the queue (including interiors) || 3 hours || From €14
Moorish Castle
From Pena Palace, it’s a roughly 10 minute walk down (and then up, and then down!) to the Castelo Dos Mouros, or the Moorish Castle.
The Moorish Castle is the first thing you’ll notice when you step off at Sintra station. It’s high in the sky looking back at you. And you’ll see it again from the Pena Palace as well. This military fort was built sometime around the 10th century. We can thank the Muslim population who occupied the Iberian peninsula at the time. Beyond the impressive castle, the area was also inhabited by Neolithic communities dating back to 5000 BC! There are some cool exhibits where you can check out more about this too.
The castle passed through many hands during the Middle Ages. Like the Pena Palace, it was Ferdinand II who took on the job of restoring and renovating the Moorish castle.
The castle is well preserved thanks to ongoing support from the Portuguese Tourism Office. The PTO reinvigorated some of the surrounding landscapes, built new paths and restored some walls. Walking the walls in a must do, even with the steep inclines, narrow paths and lack of barriers. You would argue that the views upon the walls are unmatched. But indeed they are – by Pena Palace which shares much of the same vista.
It’s not a much bigger area than Pena Palace, but not as easy on the eye. It is worth a visit if you can spare the time.
Jump the queue – BOOK ONLINE: Fast track Moorish Castle tickets|| 1 hour || From €9
Lunch
With a palace and a castle behind you, no doubt you would have worked up an appetite. Grab yourself a tuk-tuk down to the historic centre and set yourself for lunch.
There are many wine bars which accept walk ins, but in a busy tourist centred town like Sintra, it is helpful to secure a reservation ahead of time. The restaurants do get busy, so if you need to grab something on the go, sit back and enjoy watching the world go by in the main square.
We grabbed a sandwich from a nondescript vendor for €4. Alternatively, the old trick of holding off lunch until around 2pm when most tour groups have cleared out might see you stand a better chance to get a walk up table.
Afternoon sugar hit at Piriquita
No trip to Sintra is complete without a treat found at Casa Piriquita. Both Kristen and I have a sweet tooth, so when our tuk-tuk driver recommended this, we jumped at the chance.
At Piriquita, you’ll find the renowned travesseiros. This pastry is a local Sintra favourite and translates to pillow in Portuguese. And a pillow it is. Looking similar to an Australian sausage roll with a dusting of sugar, the pastry flakes the second your lips surround them. Inside the flaky wafer of pastry, you’ll meet a sweet almond paste which combines for unadulterated sweet heaven. There are a few shops offering these, but Piriquita is the original and the best.
Once you’ve had your fill, take a short wander around the historic centre before heading onto the majestic Quinta Da Regaleira.
Quinta Da Regaleira
It’s time for a change of pace. A day trip to Sintra doesn’t have to be all sharp ascents and descents after all. Those hills are nice and they have some exceptional views. But don’t despair, there are some wonderful views down below too. The Regaleira Palace was the brainchild of its owner Antonio Augusto Carvalho Monteiro who built the property in the early 20th century.
If the gardens in the Pena Palace piqued your interest, the gardens here take it to another level. The gardens feel like a mix of all the best available exotic plants and flowers known to man. Just about anyways. If you landed in the gardens unaware as to where you are, you’d be hard pressed to identify the site as Portuguese.
Beyond the stunning garden landscape, you’ll find yourself mesmerised by the turrets, tunnels and hidey-holes that adorn the property. If not for the stunning design, it’s like a child has built their dream fortress to play hide and seek in.
The best place to seek however is the incredible Initiation Well. Through a small cut out of a rock, a Game of Thrones inspired well with a spiral walkway to the bottom will see you descend into a labyrinth underground. It’s the most popular site in the gardens, but worth the visit. Mind your head as you get further underground. For those that don’t like traipsing upstairs, it’s one way down. You’ll pop out at ground level somewhere else in the property.
Take your time in the gardens and relax – that’s clearly what this garden was meant for.
Tickets available only at the gate (sorry!): Regaleira Palace entry || 1-2 hours || From €8
Wrapping up your day trip to Sintra
Heading back to the train station is a downhill run from here. And after a massive day trip in Sintra, your legs will thank you for it. If you can spare some more time, there are various sculptures that adorn the walk back to check out. The National Palace is also an interesting looking structure (with its two conical roofs). Lastly, the City Hall building is also an impressive sight before you jump on the train back to Lisbon.
Where to stay on your one day in Sintra
In a perfect world, we’d have turned our one day in Sintra into two. Sintra deserves more than a day if you can spare it. There are plenty more points of interest. The Monserrat Palace, Setais Palace, Natural History Museum and Roca Cape (the western most point of Europe) are just a few of the awesome options.
If you are looking for accommodation in Sintra, there are many options available.
A day trip to Sintra is deserving of the time of any visitor to Portugal. Given the ease of access from Lisbon, it’s pretty much a no brainer. If you’ve made it to Sintra, we’d love to hear about your visit below too!
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